It has been traditional to package wooden crutches in lots of six or twelve in corrugated paper cartons for shipment to dealers or distributors. The rubber accessories to be used with the crutches, such as the hand pieces, arm pieces and crutch tips, are not normally packaged with the crutches, and it has been the practice for the dealer, or purchaser, such as a hospital, to separately purchase the accessories and apply them to the crutches.
Because of this manner of marketing, it is necessary for the dealer or hospital to maintain separate inventories of the rubber accessories and as crutches come in a variety of different sizes, this results in a substantial inventory. As the dealer or hospital purchases the rubber accessories in relatively small lots, it is not normally possible to obtain quantity discounts on such small purchases.
Occasionally, because of an inventory problem, the proper accessories may not be available for a particular size crutch, with the result that improperly sized accessories are utilized which can be a safety hazard to the user.